INFLUENCE

Before a man can be regarded as a General, he must have up to 5000 men serving under him.
So if you need the attendance of 5,000 people at an event, one way to do it is to invite them one by one, with no guarantee that all will attend, but the smartest way to do it is to invite the General and request him to come along with all his men.
This is called INFLUENCE.

How many of such men of influence do you have around you?
What's the quality of your contact list? Influential or nuisance?
Who are the kind of people you refer to as acquaintances? Goal-getters or excuses? Strong-willed or weak-minded? Doers or talkers?

Have you come across people who upon meeting you for the first time will only ask 3 questions, the 4th depending on your response especially from the 3rd question. They want to know who you are, where you work, and what you do where you work. The 4th question which centers on exchange of contacts will only happen when they are satisfied that your relationship can be beneficial. That is how goal-getters operate!

How do you determine who becomes your acquaintance? Do you even have a standard? Not everybody should make your list of acquaintances.
Your destination will determine your journey mates. Only when you know what you want with your life will you be able to chose who should be around you. Only when you have a goal will you be able to chose rightly those who'll be useful, and identify/eliminate/avoid those who'll derail you.

Sometimes the solution you need is not only in the place of prayer/deliverance. It's also with those people of influence that you know. Modecai did not have access to the King but he had Esther!

Regardless of how complex the situation some people find themself in is, the solution is just a phone call away. Influence is one of the reasons why some get results and others don't.

Keep your circle small but rich!

AV

Get Understanding

A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength. For waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.- Prov 24:5-6 (NIV)

What I can infer from this passage:

One can be powerful and strong, and still get crushed in the battle if they lack UNDERSTANDING.

Other names by which understanding are known are: Insight, good judgement, prudence, intelligence, discernment  and revelation.

Understanding does not come by age or experience. The source of understanding is God, through His Spirit in man. Job 3: 7-8.

The two coefficients to our obtaining understanding are our efforts and God's assistance.
For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.... Then you will understand what is right and just and fair--every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Prov 2:6,9-11 (NIV)

Strength and power are not sufficient  without GUIDANCE.

'.... with all your effort work to acquire understanding.' - Prov 4:7

AV

When will you receive sense to go and build your own home?

'...when shall I provide for my own house also?'

Jacob asked Laban this question in Genesis 30:30, after he had served fourteen years for what should have been seven.

My message of today is for those who have abandoned their own visions and dreams, and are helping others build theirs. When will you receive sense to go and build your own home?

You say you have the calling of God upon your life but you have been serving for several years in a ministry where your roles on weekdays are driving and gardening, and come Sunday, you are the senior pastor's hypeman. They tell you jumbo tales of how they are training you for the task ahead. They mess up your mind with bogus promises to help you start your own ministry WHEN IT IS TIME! Some of you even think that when you serve with your whole life, that can impress the G.O to will the ministry to you upon his retirement or death! You are a joker o! Let me tell you this- the ministry will remain a heirloom. O kan fe sin ori olori ku ni.
For how long will you continue to cooperate with the spirit of Laban to keep you under slavery? When will you receive sense to go and build your own home?

Even some musicians have been tied down by the owners of some ministries, and are not allowed to go and create their own platform to showcase the gift of God in their lives. When they notice you are getting outside invitations, then they tie you down with some ridiculous economic or ministerial benefits. The gift that should give you room to flourish now becomes caged!
For how long will you continue to cooperate with the spirit of Laban to keep you under slavery? When will you receive sense to go and build your own home?

It's ok to be a worker in a ministry but when you become engrossed in the service to the detriment of your family, business, vision, work, health etc, then you are in danger of wasting your destiny.  Get this fact right: that ministry is their own VISION. It's their own dream they are fulfilling. So when they use words like 'you must attend', you have no choice but to do it', and wrap it up with the name of God or Jesus, they are only messing up your mind. It's even mental to see the owners of the vision chilling in their luxurious homes while they use phones to order you around. Eyin ti ma de church lati 5am while they won't arrive until after the praise and worship. After the service, they are gone with their family while you stay back till late to tidy and lock up. Won ti foruko Jesu so e di mugu. Helping others to build their own vision should be voluntary and non-detrimental. Do you even know that some people can't even leave some ministries? As in, they are TIED down!
For how long will you continue to cooperate with the spirit of Laban to keep you under slavery? When will you receive sense to go and build your own home?

This matter is not limited to religious places alone, it's happening also in the secular world.
The boss you are working for can also be a Laban, who'll want to keep you at all cost because of the value he finds in you.
Just like Laban refused Jacob's request to quit, some of these bosses also do the same. They tie you down with pay rises that does not make any significant impact in the profit you make for them. Think: if you use that same brain and enthusiasm to build your own vision, won't you succeed? Why are you afraid of starting small? Why are you satisfied to be in the little (which to you is big) aquarium you are, when you can have more room in the ocean?
For how long will you continue to cooperate with the spirit of Laban to keep you under slavery? When will you receive sense to go and build your own home?

Just like Jabob, you have made other people, ministries, businesses bigger as a result of the grace you carry, but when will you let this grace work for you?
God has given you the gifts but He won't tell you how to trade with it, YET HE WILL RETURN TO ASK YOU TO GIVE ACCOUNT OF YOUR STEWARDSHIP.

Lastly, watch out for those who'll want you to conform to their own standard by discarding your own uniqueness while helping them to build their vision. They want you to look, dress and talk in a certain way that suits their own vision, thereby loosing your own standout features. These are signs to recogise a Laban. Somebody who is not a Laban will respect you for who you are, help you retain your uniqueness, and also give you a platform to build your own vision.

The most wicked thing about the spirit of Laban is that regardless of how long you have served, when it's time for you to go, it sends you out EMPTY. So for how long will you continue to cooperate with the spirit of Laban to keep you under slavery? When will you receive sense to go and build your own home?

AV